LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A group braved Tuesday morning's chill for a joint grave dedication ceremony at the Lexington Cemetery, honoring two brothers who were divided by war but now rest together.
The new stone was revealed during a Veterans Day ceremony at the Hamilton family plot, where brothers John W. Hamilton and Robert S. Hamilton were laid to rest.
Robert was a Confederate soldier who was killed in action during the Battle of Perryville at 18 years old. John was a Union soldier who died in 1867.
One brother fought for the Union, the other for the Confederacy. Now a joint gravestone honors them together at the Lexington Cemetery.
"We need to work cooperatively because we're all doing the same thing, honoring those who died, and we're all into genealogy," said Jack Wills with the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War.
The Kentucky Historical Society estimates the Civil War divided thousands of families, including Abraham Lincoln's.
